CSET Events

Tech Firms in Ukraine

The Role of U.S. Companies and Implications for the Future

CSET experts discussed the U.S. tech industry's involvement in the war in Ukraine and what it means for their role in conflicts of the future.

Two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have seen how the capabilities provided by private sector technology companies are impacting modern warfare. Whether by providing satellite-enabled communications or cyber support, U.S. tech companies have helped Ukraine withstand Russia’s initial assault and conduct offensive operations.

What have we learned about these military and technological evolutions and the role of tech companies in geopolitics since the invasion? What lessons might these trends hold for a hypothetical Taiwan contingency? CSET experts considered these and other relevant questions.

Recording

Participants

Emelia (Emmy) Probasco is a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where she works on the military applications of Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining CSET, she was the Chief Communications Officer and Communications Department Head at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), leading technical and institutional communications to support and drive APL’s strategic vision. Prior to APL, Emmy served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, deploying twice to the Indo-Pacific. She also served in the Pentagon as the speechwriter to the Chief of Naval Operations and at the U.S. Naval Academy as an instructor in political science. She has masters’ degrees in Forced Migration and Economic and Social History from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a degree in Political Science from the U.S. Naval Academy. She is also currently serving as a special government employee advising the Defense Innovation Unit.

Sam Bresnick is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), focused on AI applications and Chinese technology policy. Previously, he was a Senior Research Analyst at Carnegie China, where he conducted research on U.S.-China relations, Chinese foreign policy, and East Asian security and economic issues. Sam’s analysis has been published in Wired, Foreign Policy, and The New Republic, among other outlets. Prior to joining Carnegie, Sam worked as a journalist in Colombo, Sri Lanka and as a teacher in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He holds an AB in Comparative Literature from Brown University and an MA in Asian Studies from Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Ngor Luong is a Senior Research Analyst at CSET, focusing on China’s science and technology ecosystem, AI investment trends, and AI diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region. She is also a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, where she focuses on China’s tech, economy, and business. Prior to CSET, Ngor worked at the Center for American Progress, where she researched China’s industrial policy and 5G. Her work and commentary have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Nikkei Asia, the Diplomat, among other outlets. She is a co-author of the Routledge-published “Chinese Power and Artificial Intelligence.” Ngor received a BA magna cum laude in International Politics and Economics from Middlebury College. She is enrolled as an M.A. candidate in Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program with a concentration in technology and national security.